Errands and Services

Everyone has to deal with errands and services, from getting a haircut to navigating a government office, which makes this a natural topic for real conversation. Questions range from simple routines and personal experiences to bigger debates about tipping, automation, and what we lose when local businesses disappear.

Questions are organized by level from beginner to advanced. A printable PDF of all the questions is available at the bottom of the page.

Beginner (A1-A2)

1. What errands do you usually do on the weekend? What do you usually get done first?
2. Have you ever been to a post office? What did you send or pick up?
3. What is the longest line you have ever waited in? What were you waiting for?
4. Do you pay your bills online or in person? How does it usually go?
5. How often do you get a haircut? Where do you usually go?
6. Have you ever had something delivered to your home (food, packages, furniture, etc.)? Was it easy?
7. Have you ever taken your car or bike to be repaired? How did it go?
8. Who does most of the errands in your family? What do they usually take care of?
9. Have you ever returned something to a store? What was wrong with it?
10. Have you ever had a really bad haircut? What happened?
11. Have you ever had a problem with a delivery? What went wrong?
12. What do you usually forget to buy when you go grocery shopping? How often does that happen?

Elementary (A2)

1. Do you prefer to go grocery shopping alone or with someone? What’s good about each?
2. What is the most annoying errand you have to do? What makes it so annoying?
3. Have you ever had to call customer service about a problem? What happened, and did they fix it?
4. Have you ever had to go to a government office, like a passport office or a tax office? What was it like?
5. What is a service you use often (dry cleaner, car wash, delivery, etc.)? Why do you use it so much?
6. Have you ever had clothes or shoes repaired or altered? Where did you take them?
7. Do you prefer to make appointments by phone or online? Why?
8. Have you ever used a laundromat or a dry cleaner? What did you bring there?
9. What is the best time of day to do errands? Why do you think so?
10. Do you prefer to use an ATM or go inside the bank? Why?

Intermediate (B1)

1. Do you prefer to shop for groceries at a big supermarket or a small local market? Why?
2. Do you tip people who provide services, like hairdressers, delivery drivers, or movers? Why or why not?
3. Do you prefer to do your errands all in one day or spread them out during the week? Why?
4. Do you think it is better to hire a professional or try to fix things yourself around the home? Why or why not?
5. What is the best way to complain about bad service? What do most people do wrong?
6. Should stores and restaurants always offer a refund if a customer is unhappy, even without proof of purchase? Why or why not?
7. Should more services be available online, or are some things better to do in person? Give me some examples.
8. What do you think makes a service person, like a waiter, a repair technician, or a doctor’s receptionist, really good at their job? Why are those qualities important?
9. How do people in your country usually react when they receive bad service? Is it common to complain, or do most people stay quiet?
10. If you could hire someone to do one task in your daily life, what would it be and why?
11. How much do online reviews affect where you go for services like restaurants, mechanics, or salons? Do you trust them?
12. When you hire someone to do a job, like a plumber, an electrician, or a cleaner, what factors do you consider most important? How do you decide if you got good value?

Upper-Intermediate (B2)

1. Do you think tipping should be mandatory, optional, or replaced by higher wages for service workers? Why or why not?
2. How has the growth of app-based delivery services changed people’s shopping and eating habits? Do you think these changes are mostly positive, or are there downsides people do not talk about enough?
3. How is the experience of dealing with bureaucracy (government offices, paperwork, permits) different in your country compared to other places you know about? What can be done to improve it?
4. How has the move toward cashless and contactless payment changed the experience of running errands and using services? Are there people who get left behind by these changes?
5. How has the rise of self-checkout machines, chatbots, and automated systems changed the way people experience customer service? Is it a good change overall?
6. Some countries have strict consumer protection laws that make it easy to return items and get refunds, while others do not. What impact does this have on how people shop and how businesses behave?
7. When you have a bad experience with a service, do you think leaving a negative online review is fair, or can it cause more harm than good? What are the downsides of each?
8. How do expectations about service quality differ between generations? Why do you think those differences exist?
9. Many services now come as monthly subscriptions, such as streaming, meal kits, software, and even car washes. What are the advantages and disadvantages of paying for services this way instead of one at a time?
10. How do you decide whether to trust a service provider you have never used before, like a new mechanic, dentist, or cleaning company? What are the risks of choosing wrong?
11. Companies often promise fast, friendly, high-quality service in their advertising, but customers frequently experience something very different. Why is there often such a big gap between what companies promise and what they actually deliver?

Advanced (C1)

1. As more services become automated, such as self-checkout, AI customer support, and robot deliveries, what happens to the human side of service interactions, and does anyone actually miss it?
2. Apps like Uber, TaskRabbit, and delivery platforms have made it easy to get almost any service on demand. How has this convenience changed people’s expectations about how fast and cheap everything should be, and what are the hidden costs of that mindset?
3. Why do some countries have a deep culture of excellent service, where workers take real pride in it, while others treat it as just a job to get through? What conditions create one or the other?
4. Many people now pay others to do things their parents and grandparents did themselves, such as cooking, cleaning, and even assembling furniture. At what point does outsourcing daily life start to change how capable and self-sufficient people are?
5. Tipping culture creates a situation where a customer’s mood and generosity directly affect a worker’s income. How does this shape the dynamic between customers and service workers, and is it fundamentally fair?
6. Customer service workers are often expected to be friendly and patient no matter how rude the customer is. How has the idea that ‘the customer is always right’ shaped the way service workers are treated, and is that dynamic starting to change?
7. Bureaucracy is often described as the enemy of efficiency, yet governments and large organizations keep producing more of it. Why does it grow even when everyone agrees it is a problem, and what does that say about how institutions work?
8. In some cultures, bargaining and negotiating prices is normal and even expected, while in others it would be considered rude or awkward. What does a culture’s attitude toward haggling reveal about how people in that society think about money, trust, and social relationships?
9. People often say they want personalized service, but they also worry about companies collecting too much personal data to provide it. Where is the line between a service that knows what you need and one that knows too much about you?
10. Small, independent shops and service providers are disappearing in many places as large chains and online platforms take over. What is lost when a community no longer has local barbers, mechanics, tailors, and shop owners who know their customers by name?

PDF: Download a PDF of all the questions